If you’ve interacted with our public health system recently, or spoken to people working in it, you’ll know it is struggling. Be it infrastructure, staffing levels, salaries not keeping up with living costs, or absences in a workforce who have slogged their guts out for the last two years and are still dealing with the effects of Covid.
The last two sentences encapsulate the choices that NZers have next year, Nick.
We have had experiences with the NHS, plus private care in the UK, and public and private care here in NZ over the last four years. We don't have medical insurance but have self funded surgery and treatment when the situation has been urgent for us but not urgent in terms of other people's more pressing needs. We have family and friends who have required care and treatment in the public system here in the last couple of years and they have had nothing but praise for the professionalism, kindness and attention they have received. They have all been cognisant of the costs of the treatments they have received: chemo, stem cell transplant, intensive nursing, cardiac care, eye surgery et al.
My point really is that the care here in the public system is exemplary and even though our nurses, doctors and ancillary staff are stretched to the limit and beyond, they are still amazing.
There will always, very sadly, be failures in the system. However people here who complain need to be aware that failures abound in the US private medical system (which is probably what Luxon, Seymour and their ilk would like to have here so more rich people can get richer and the 'bottom feeders' who cannot afford insurance can die off perhaps?) - that is one reason why doctors in the US 1) have massive amounts of malpractice insurance, 2) are reluctant to do anything without a barrage of time consuming and expensive tests.
Once again, cheers, Nick, for an excellent and thoughtful piece. Thank you.
Spot on Nick! After successive National governments running down health services, ironically when the Minister of Health was a medical doctor, as well as all other Public Services, so that Key and English could demonstrate their "Rockstar" economic management, this Government has done a sterling job of rebuilding in spite of unforeseen disasters like Covid. National and ACT don't have snowball's chance in hell of getting my vote.
I have a multi-systemic medical condition that affects most of my body's functions. I am a "frequent flier" at least 8 of the clinics at Waikato hospital. I have never experienced anything less than professionalism, and no unreasonable treatment delays. I am in a position to compare, because when I first fell ill I was living in Perth, and the appalling "treatment' there nearly killed me. Our system works!
I have a close family member with cancer/lymphoma. She has continued to be treated during the pandemic, and when she tested positive to covid phoned Haemotology at the hospital who immediately responded, and she had anti-viral drugs very quickly. They kept her out of hospital and saved her life. She had been told covid would kill her because she is neutropenic with almost no immune system- chemotherapy kills the cancer but also blood platelets that make up her immune system. Earlier this year she began to experience severe hip,and leg pain. An appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon and scans showed one hip joint had crumbled, also a side effect of chemotherapy. She was fast traced for surgery, and is now recovering very well . She will soon start a new (for her) round of treatment to boast her immune system. She is grateful to the medical staff, she has an excellent GP, and she tells me the food at both Burwood and Christchurch hospitals is good. Unlike the food at Dunedin hospital where the for me it was inedible. Dunedin hospital used to have decent, locally made meals but under the previous Key government the DHB had to find ways to cut their deficit, and they opted to purchase frozen meals from the Multi-National company, COMPASS.ll food is flown in frozen and reheated.My understanding is that the DHB signed a multi-year deal with this company but the expected cost savings are non-existent. I had a month in hospital mid year 2020 not long after we came out of lockdown - with sceptacaemia, plus four months at home being treated daily by District nurses who administered an antibibiotic intravenously, etc. I am very grateful to the expertise,and care of both the hospital staff, and District nurses. I was initially treated in hospital with broad spectrum anti-biotics that were ineffective. The doctors took scrapings from me and managed to grow and identify the specific bacteria making me ill, and identified a specific antibiotic to treat my infection. It worked.! Last year I had shoulder surgery for a torn rotata cuff.Because it was funded by ACC it was done at Mercy Hospital in Dunedin.Much more luxurious then Dunedin hospital . Beautiful grounds, very good food, and the medical care was excellent. ACC use private hospitals to take the pressure off the public system. in a way it does set up a three tiered hospital system. People who have health insurance can access private hospital care and get operations when needed- I have been in that positition in the past. ACC clients once approved by ACC also have that luxury. I've been in that position three times when I've had surgery. People whose only option for surgery is the public hospital system have to wait on a list (if they are lucky. Sometimes they get cut off the list and they have to go back to their GP ) I have had that happen. !I waited four years for knee replacement surgery all up- I was in terrible pain because my knee had no cartlage left- it was bone on bone. That wa under Ruthenasia.
Yes- I am grateful to the medical saff who have kept my sister alive and functioning with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and for those that kept me alive with sceptacaemia , and inflammatary markers that reache 343 according to the infection specialist. He told me that some months after in my discharge appointment withm and they were down to five. t seems it is normal for them to be under five.When I was first admitted to hospital it was to A@E- I had an appointment with my GPs locum after spending a week in bed during which time I was unable to eat anything, felt terrible and especially had over the top back pain. MRIs later found I had abscesses in my spinal column. The locum phoned A@E and said she was sending me in. I experienced all the chaos people talk about with A@E- but it was not the first time . I have on previious occasions been put on a bed in a corridor. This time it was in a line of beds in a corridor heading towards the ambulance Bay. As the ambulances pulled up - they seemed to be continuous , the doors wouldopen automatically and I would receive a gush of cold air. I waited quite a while before I was moved to a cubicle. The woman in the bed next to me had obvious mental health issues and she constantly yelled, screamed and swore. i was glad to be moved away from her. Emergaency departments are never orderly places in my experience. I was there for several hours before being admitted to a ward. But it seems that wait times have really blown for people this year.
What you've forgot to mention is the fact that people have been ignoring medical , epidiemolgists advises. Covid is still killing more people than the flu and due to more infectious mutation would reach more people. RSV , flu , added and you have overwhelmed hospitals. It is the same in Australia , UK is a disaster. Self responsibility is disappearing from vocabulary in NZ. If people don't vaccinate, eat healthy stay home if symptoms are and test, they would affect others. Auckland population increased by 700000 in few years : unfortunately investment in hospitals didn't kept up for 9 years. We are paying the price now. But I agree: nurses and doctors should be paid much more.
Be interesting to know what the multiplier change is for a nurse's salary to a Chief Executive salary over the last 20 years. And if we need to pay so much to get a good person as CEO then let's apply the same rule to nursing staff- we quite obviously need them.
I finally found a copy of The Hollow Men yesterday at our local op shop, Man that is a good read and reaffirms my utter loathing of creatures like Matthew Hooten - he was behind Brash's train wreck as well.
im waiting for someone to sue the neoliberal economics profession. so that the equivalent of all the profits transferred overseas by private health insurers over the past forty years can be paid to our public health system. 40 years of underfunding in order to leave room for private profit makers. sounds like a crime to me.
I presented to Middlemore ED on a Saturday night around 11.30pm in 2016 for what turned out to be a decent sized Kidney stone, the level of care I received was just superb , ED was very busy but I looked bad enough to be admitted almost straight away , so no complaints from me about our hard worked Health service.
the better the health service the more people get sick. insured drivers crash more often than uninsured drivers. no one looks after their own health if someone else will do it for them. reduce healthcare for lifestyle consequences, that gets people healthier, continue funding and incentivizing the excellent essential healthcare services we have, and prioritize prevention especially including food quality.
The last two sentences encapsulate the choices that NZers have next year, Nick.
We have had experiences with the NHS, plus private care in the UK, and public and private care here in NZ over the last four years. We don't have medical insurance but have self funded surgery and treatment when the situation has been urgent for us but not urgent in terms of other people's more pressing needs. We have family and friends who have required care and treatment in the public system here in the last couple of years and they have had nothing but praise for the professionalism, kindness and attention they have received. They have all been cognisant of the costs of the treatments they have received: chemo, stem cell transplant, intensive nursing, cardiac care, eye surgery et al.
My point really is that the care here in the public system is exemplary and even though our nurses, doctors and ancillary staff are stretched to the limit and beyond, they are still amazing.
There will always, very sadly, be failures in the system. However people here who complain need to be aware that failures abound in the US private medical system (which is probably what Luxon, Seymour and their ilk would like to have here so more rich people can get richer and the 'bottom feeders' who cannot afford insurance can die off perhaps?) - that is one reason why doctors in the US 1) have massive amounts of malpractice insurance, 2) are reluctant to do anything without a barrage of time consuming and expensive tests.
Once again, cheers, Nick, for an excellent and thoughtful piece. Thank you.
Cheers, Marilyn
Thanks for your thoughtful reply Marilyn, appreciate that.
Spot on Nick! After successive National governments running down health services, ironically when the Minister of Health was a medical doctor, as well as all other Public Services, so that Key and English could demonstrate their "Rockstar" economic management, this Government has done a sterling job of rebuilding in spite of unforeseen disasters like Covid. National and ACT don't have snowball's chance in hell of getting my vote.
I have a multi-systemic medical condition that affects most of my body's functions. I am a "frequent flier" at least 8 of the clinics at Waikato hospital. I have never experienced anything less than professionalism, and no unreasonable treatment delays. I am in a position to compare, because when I first fell ill I was living in Perth, and the appalling "treatment' there nearly killed me. Our system works!
I'm glad to hear it.
I have a close family member with cancer/lymphoma. She has continued to be treated during the pandemic, and when she tested positive to covid phoned Haemotology at the hospital who immediately responded, and she had anti-viral drugs very quickly. They kept her out of hospital and saved her life. She had been told covid would kill her because she is neutropenic with almost no immune system- chemotherapy kills the cancer but also blood platelets that make up her immune system. Earlier this year she began to experience severe hip,and leg pain. An appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon and scans showed one hip joint had crumbled, also a side effect of chemotherapy. She was fast traced for surgery, and is now recovering very well . She will soon start a new (for her) round of treatment to boast her immune system. She is grateful to the medical staff, she has an excellent GP, and she tells me the food at both Burwood and Christchurch hospitals is good. Unlike the food at Dunedin hospital where the for me it was inedible. Dunedin hospital used to have decent, locally made meals but under the previous Key government the DHB had to find ways to cut their deficit, and they opted to purchase frozen meals from the Multi-National company, COMPASS.ll food is flown in frozen and reheated.My understanding is that the DHB signed a multi-year deal with this company but the expected cost savings are non-existent. I had a month in hospital mid year 2020 not long after we came out of lockdown - with sceptacaemia, plus four months at home being treated daily by District nurses who administered an antibibiotic intravenously, etc. I am very grateful to the expertise,and care of both the hospital staff, and District nurses. I was initially treated in hospital with broad spectrum anti-biotics that were ineffective. The doctors took scrapings from me and managed to grow and identify the specific bacteria making me ill, and identified a specific antibiotic to treat my infection. It worked.! Last year I had shoulder surgery for a torn rotata cuff.Because it was funded by ACC it was done at Mercy Hospital in Dunedin.Much more luxurious then Dunedin hospital . Beautiful grounds, very good food, and the medical care was excellent. ACC use private hospitals to take the pressure off the public system. in a way it does set up a three tiered hospital system. People who have health insurance can access private hospital care and get operations when needed- I have been in that positition in the past. ACC clients once approved by ACC also have that luxury. I've been in that position three times when I've had surgery. People whose only option for surgery is the public hospital system have to wait on a list (if they are lucky. Sometimes they get cut off the list and they have to go back to their GP ) I have had that happen. !I waited four years for knee replacement surgery all up- I was in terrible pain because my knee had no cartlage left- it was bone on bone. That wa under Ruthenasia.
Thanks for your reply, sounds like some incredible treatment.
Yes- I am grateful to the medical saff who have kept my sister alive and functioning with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and for those that kept me alive with sceptacaemia , and inflammatary markers that reache 343 according to the infection specialist. He told me that some months after in my discharge appointment withm and they were down to five. t seems it is normal for them to be under five.When I was first admitted to hospital it was to A@E- I had an appointment with my GPs locum after spending a week in bed during which time I was unable to eat anything, felt terrible and especially had over the top back pain. MRIs later found I had abscesses in my spinal column. The locum phoned A@E and said she was sending me in. I experienced all the chaos people talk about with A@E- but it was not the first time . I have on previious occasions been put on a bed in a corridor. This time it was in a line of beds in a corridor heading towards the ambulance Bay. As the ambulances pulled up - they seemed to be continuous , the doors wouldopen automatically and I would receive a gush of cold air. I waited quite a while before I was moved to a cubicle. The woman in the bed next to me had obvious mental health issues and she constantly yelled, screamed and swore. i was glad to be moved away from her. Emergaency departments are never orderly places in my experience. I was there for several hours before being admitted to a ward. But it seems that wait times have really blown for people this year.
I very much enjoy reading your writings.
Now if ACC $40 billions were added we would have a gold plated service. Every reader should tell their local electoral MP
Great read. Affirming. Thanks for the effort you put in.
What you've forgot to mention is the fact that people have been ignoring medical , epidiemolgists advises. Covid is still killing more people than the flu and due to more infectious mutation would reach more people. RSV , flu , added and you have overwhelmed hospitals. It is the same in Australia , UK is a disaster. Self responsibility is disappearing from vocabulary in NZ. If people don't vaccinate, eat healthy stay home if symptoms are and test, they would affect others. Auckland population increased by 700000 in few years : unfortunately investment in hospitals didn't kept up for 9 years. We are paying the price now. But I agree: nurses and doctors should be paid much more.
Be interesting to know what the multiplier change is for a nurse's salary to a Chief Executive salary over the last 20 years. And if we need to pay so much to get a good person as CEO then let's apply the same rule to nursing staff- we quite obviously need them.
I finally found a copy of The Hollow Men yesterday at our local op shop, Man that is a good read and reaffirms my utter loathing of creatures like Matthew Hooten - he was behind Brash's train wreck as well.
im waiting for someone to sue the neoliberal economics profession. so that the equivalent of all the profits transferred overseas by private health insurers over the past forty years can be paid to our public health system. 40 years of underfunding in order to leave room for private profit makers. sounds like a crime to me.
So sorry you had to wait so long in our town- 'Palmy' ED.
Hope the injury is on the mend.
Yes, she is on the mend and apologies for the description.
I presented to Middlemore ED on a Saturday night around 11.30pm in 2016 for what turned out to be a decent sized Kidney stone, the level of care I received was just superb , ED was very busy but I looked bad enough to be admitted almost straight away , so no complaints from me about our hard worked Health service.
Maybe it's the to stop eating animals if you don't want cancer.
the better the health service the more people get sick. insured drivers crash more often than uninsured drivers. no one looks after their own health if someone else will do it for them. reduce healthcare for lifestyle consequences, that gets people healthier, continue funding and incentivizing the excellent essential healthcare services we have, and prioritize prevention especially including food quality.